Cornell & Diehl - Red Stag pipe tobacco reviews

Review

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Reviewed By:	Date:	Strength:	Flavoring:	Taste:	Room Note:	Recommendation:
Showing reviews 1 through 11 of 11 reviews of this tobacco
Kraft1994	09/08/2012	Mild to Medium	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
it is a decent medium bodied english blend. for the most part its mellow and nothing very special but occasionally you get very sweet puffs which i enjoy. also you get the occasional spicy puff which is even better. i only wish this blend would be more consistent in its flavors. for the most part it is rather bland
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SteelCowboy	08/18/2011	Mild to Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant to Tolerable
Red Stag is a short cut tobacco that arrived with the right moisture level for me (a little dry) and had a nice fig/plum tin note. It's a little bit sweet and a little bit sour, but in a good way. My first tin has some age on it and that added to the sweetness. However, for me, this is one of those blends that my enjoyment decreased with each bowl until my last tin was left unfinished. Red Stag just wasn't as complex and interesting as similar blends in its class although I am a bit of a "puffer" so slow smokers may have a better experience. Also, having smoked the original Red Rapparee, I don't find the blends similar at all. Somewhat recommended, and cool tin art.
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SmokeKing David	09/13/2010	Medium to Strong	None detected	Medium	Tolerable
I echo the review of BriarChef. This is very nice tobacco, just short of the top rating. Govern Yourself Accordingly.
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BriarChef	07/18/2008	Mild	None detected	Mild to Medium	Pleasant
In the same genre, but not a copy or "me too" attempt at duplicating Dunhill Durbar or Rattray's Red Rapparee. This has that signature Tarler Twist. Perfect moisture for tin to tinder treatment. Short cut, as C. Rattray endorsed in his treatise. To me, a hint of Red Virginia Cavendish, but in no way sweet in the "cavendish" tobacco of Danish origin. Relaxed, friendly and reliable. Like a good buddy, great with a cold beer...make that a properly chilled ale...not too cold. I thoroughly enjoy the subdued role the Latakia plays in this mixture. Masterful treatment of top shelf raw materials, allowing the Virginias and Orientals to perform their dance without any interference from the choreographer. Nice!!
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billb3	10/19/2007	Medium	None detected	Medium	Pleasant
The reviews so far have been mostly unflattering, I suspect they may be out of date. I tried this a few years ago and do not remember much about it. The can I am currently smoking is dated 7-30-07. The color is reds and browns with bits of black. It is mostly a thinner ribbon cut with some broken pieces of flake. It is dry, as with most C&D blends, but about the dryness I prefer for smoking. It takes a little to get it going but once the tobacco is toasted it burns well. It requires slow methodical puffing, to keep from heating up and nipping. When smoked slowly it exhibits a nice moderate sweetness complimented by toasty notes. The oriental lends a nice faint acridity they goes well with the toasty sweetness. The moderate quantity of latakia marries well with the other flavors. The aroma is of toasted virginia with a wafting of latakia/orientals. I find it an excellent blend. Like the best Americans it is relatively straight-forward with enough depth and sublety to be interesting.
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RCUSElder	01/02/2006	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Strong
Revised 01-02-06 I recently opened my last tin that was in my "cellar" and have come to the conclusion that this blend is NOT FOR ME! I just do not like it. It has a similar leaf as found in Pease's Cairo, blegh! Maybe some you will enjoy it, have at it... Original review: First, let me state that I am of fan of C&D and have praise for many of their blends, but this one did not work for me. The tin I tested was aged for 8 mo's before opening. Upon opening, you are greeted by mostly medium brown leaf with an occassional speck of green, black, and gold in the usual medium, broad ribbon cut. The tin aroma is, I'm afraid, very off-putting (to me, anyway). I work by the beach quite often and every now and then I work by secluded coves where in the fall and winter you get a nasty whiff of sea-swamp (nasty, indeed!). This is the tin aroma that this blend reminded me of. Well, I loaded my pipe anyway and as usual, packing, moisture, and lighting were a breeze. Initial flavor is very minerally with the turkish in the forefront. Mid-bowl you begin to taste the latakia and virginia, but only as support. I generally like turkish leaf, but the leaf in this blend tasted too bitter for my taste. Last third of the bowl is the worst. This mineral flavor turns sour and I had a difficult time finishing the bowl. I tried this blend in several pipes with similar results. I can not put this blend in the "English" category, but rather seems to be a very poor "Balkan". I can not recommend this blend at this time "Here I stand I can do no other" Rating 1 out of 5 points. Sorry...
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Lochinvar	08/16/2005	Mild	None detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Strong
This was the first C&D blend I smoked and it was very nearly the last (which would have been a misfortune). The thing that put me off the most was the smell when I opened the tin. I have smoked virtually every type of tobacco blend and a sampling of most brands. This was not the smell of tobacco, nor of anything organic (save maybe one of those organic carbon based human corpses of the month old variety). It smelled of heavy acidic chemicals with a hint of blue urinal bar. I nearly tossed the cookies. Upon lighting, the smell abated, but did not entirely leave, rather it mixed with a rather insipid excuse for a dry flat English representation. While I keep Pirate Kake, Yale Mixture and Three Friars on hand, I will never touch this again, save perhaps to give to a pipe smoking enemy.
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sasha	06/30/2005	Very Mild	None detected	Extremely Mild (Flat)	Unnoticeable
This tobacco has been a sore surprise, 'cause I've always found great tobaccos within C&D production. The disappointment began while opening the tin: it was too dry and turning to dust. A week in the jar did something to make it smokable. When I smoked it it immediately tasted bitter, dull and unpleasant; many smokes later I haven't changed my opinion, it's a useless tobacco. The only good points it score are that it burns very easily and cool, so it can be succesfully used to run in a new pipe or to teach novices how to smoke.
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Tantric	04/07/2003	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable
Allow me to dissent from the esteemed Stag reviewers above. First an observation on my encounter with this creature. My stag came in very poor conditions from its Vegas-smoke residence: it was virtually dehydrated. I know Cornell & Diehl tend to the dry side of moisture in their offerings, but this was ridiculous! Crisp dry, brittle, it was on the verge of turning into dust when I opened the plastic bag inside a tin dated, on the bottom, Oct. 1999 (mind you, neither the lid nor the plastic bag had been previously opened, so I cannot explain the excessive dryness of the product). Anyway, a couple of weeks on therapy with distilled water turned it into something smokable; still, I waited another week before taking the stag for a ride. Certainly I would not define this as an outstanding or extraordinary blend. It definitely is not a Balkan type of mixture, but all in all the stag is not a bad English style smoke. As it happened with the three other Cornell & Diehl blends I have tried (Briar Fox, Yale Mixture and Haunted Bookshop), it took me some time before I realized how palatable and richly sober this mild to medium mixture actually is. Red Stag is prepared after the traditional C&D fashion: pure quality leaf, virtually untampered with, that IMO accounts for an initially unsettling raw, harsh and grassy under taste, but eventually yields an excellent smoking experience. If anything this is an educated Stag, for it is a close relative of C&D?s Yale Mixture. The great difference is that being mellower, on account of the unsweetened Virginia Cavendished base, the Stag also carries abundant Turkish leaf. This ingredient makes it livelier, crisper and, IMO, a bit more perky or ?wild? if you so wish, than its Yale relative. The Latakia (Cyprian, probably) dominates the first half of the bowl, with the toasted Black Cavendish providing a discreet background. But don?t be fooled. The fact that there is a Cavendished ingredient does not put the Stag anywhere near Dunhill?s 965, Lane?s Crown Achievement or McConnell?s Original Scottish blend. In this case, the Latakia and the toasted Cavendished Virginia have a similar bitter earthiness, somewhere in between mineral and mutedly sweet, so the contrast between them is not that sharp. By the second half of the bowl, when the Turkish comes alive, this esteemed breed turns from a down to earth, almost passive attitude, to a vivacious and energetic creature. The spicy and tangy sour-sweet leaf cuts through the thick density of its heavier partners, and the whole mixture becomes more vigorous, lighter and tastier. It has a great finish that doesn?t tire the palate nor induces tongue bite. While Red Stag would not be my first choice for an English style blend, IMO it sure beats Dunhill?s Standard Mixture Mild (Ah, sacrilege!), Gawith?s Skiff, or even Rattray?s Highland Targe. So if you are in the mood for a light but hearty English style smoke, give the Stag a try?probably best outdoors, when taking a stroll without wanting to think things over too much.
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Pipestud	01/24/2003	Medium	None detected	Medium to Full	Tolerable to Strong
My tin was 2 years old. So, the short answer to lustra's question posed above is: not much better. I found the Virginia leaf to be harsh, the Latakia lacked something and the Orientals added only sweetness, not flavor. In fact, like lustra's impressions, this stuff turned bitey and sour near the lower third of the bowl. It was quite hot for a blend with Latakia leaf too. Next time deer season rolls around, I say lets put Red Stag out of its misery.
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lustra	04/03/2002	Medium	None detected	Mild to Medium	Tolerable to Strong
This blend is finely chopped, and very easy to load. It is sharp on the first light, but as the bowl progresses it settles down to a just slightly sweet, sometimes neutral taste. Sometimes even a little sour. It can bite if you're not careful. The room note, for a smoker, is wonderful. For a smoker's wife, the scent is apalling. I am curious what this blend would be like with six month's age.
Showing reviews 1 through 11 of 11 reviews of this tobacco